December Rain
by Weeks the Squirrel
Summary: Naraku has been defeated, the jewel completed. Their dreams could finally be put into effect, or so they thought. Some obstacles get in the way of their happily ever afters and matters of the heart must be worked out before anyone's dreams come true.


1**Prologue.**

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the other characters. Thank Rumiko Takahashi for those characters. The story is mine, though, hee. Hopefully I don't mess this up...

It was a cold December. The skies had become cold, gray and forbidding. The leaves, once vibrant golds and reds that had danced across the streets and in yards, entertaining children for hours, were dead now. The trees were dark and bare, standing out harshly against the sky, their silhouettes dark and haunting.

And she...she was alone now.

Aimlessly, the young miko meandered down the sidewalk. Her pale skin, with cheeks tinged red from the stinging wind, made her dark, raven hair stand out considerably. Her eyes, mostly covered by her eyelids, heavy with her dark lashes, were a slate blue-gray color and they focused on the ground. Her hands tucked into her pockets, the sleeves of her dark blue turtleneck covering the tops of her hands to protect them from the cold.

Covered or not, Kagome still felt cold. No amount of clothing could keep her warm; not the way he could have. Even in the harshest conditions, Kagome could have relied on him to keep her warm.

To keep her safe.

But...those days were over now. Separated by five-hundred years, the miko could no longer rely on him to keep her warm and protect her. It wasn't that she didn't want him to... But she had no choice in the matter. He wasn't going to be at her window when she returned home. He wouldn't come for her in the night with the outrageous claim that he wanted her to hurry up and come back to his time, stating that they needed to get back to jewel-shard hunting. That was never the case though, she always knew he just missed her.

Now, they were apart and alone. How had things come to this? Why?

Looking upwards to the skies, Kagome sighed, lost and feeling quite alone.

Returning home, Kagome wandered past the house and straight to the Goshinboku tree where they had first met, five-hundred years ago. Placing her hands neatly side-by-side on the tree, she rested her forehead against them with a deep sigh. Kagome could feel the throbbing in her chest, the tears stinging at her eyes. Sniffing lightly, Kagome spoke, though she knew no one was there.

"Where are you now...InuYasha?"

The hanyou shuddered, stirring from his unrest high up in a tree. He all but fell out in his excitement, looking around wildly.

"Who's there!"

Silence. The silver-haired hanyou relaxed a little after a few moments, leaning back against the tree trunk, his ears twitching a little. His eyes, a molten amber, stared through the tree limbs as if he were in a daze. Standing quickly, his nose caught a familiar scent and he felt a bit of warmth, yet some sadness. Taking off, he ran as fast as his legs would carry him to their place.

Arriving upon the Goshinboku, he made his way to the spot where he had rested for fifty years. His ears drooped a little as his hand rested over the arrow's hole. It was warm. He could smell her wonderful scent... But it was soon fading away, swept away by the wintery winds, the locks of his silver hair swimming and darting with the wind. His free hand rested over his heart, clutching lightly at his haori before he dug his claws in lightly, feeling a lingering anger. With himself or with her?

He didn't know.

Taking off once more, the hanyou ran, leaping from branch to branch as he flew through the forest. To where, he had not the slightest idea. He just couldn't bear to be around that tree. It held too many memories of her... Of them. He couldn't go back to that, not after...

Not after what?

What had happened? His mind drew a blank as he refused to remember what had driven them apart.

After a long while of fleeing, he stopped, clinging miserably to a tree. The hanyou, enraged with himself and his sadness over a girl long gone, snarled, digging his claws into the tree. The guilt of something he didn't know of weighed heavily upon him and it drove him mad. After abusing the trunk a little longer, he settled, exhausted from running from the tree, from the memories, from the past.

His head hung low and he slumped against the splintered bark, threading his claws into his hair, clamping his hands on his head. He felt the warmth of who was missing from his life; her body leaned back against his as she gave him her complete trust, her delicate fingers tracing patterns idly along the backs of his ears, her quiet humming giving him peace of mind. Her scent was wonderful...

Looking up, he studied her skin, warmed and a bit tanned from their long days of walking in the sun. It glowed lightly, in his eyes. Her hair, long and dark, was soft. Reaching out, he ran his fingers through it lightly and she smiled at him, leaning her face into his hand. He looked up to her stormy blue eyes, his personal retreat when they were together. Something tugged lightly at his heart and his voice choked out her name.

"Kagome..."

And she vanished.

The hanyou looked at the empty space where she had just been and his heart broke again, as it did every time he remembered her. His clawed hands clenched into fists and soon his angry, roaring howl could be heard for miles around.

The taijiya looked up from the pot of stew she was helping the old priestess Kaede make and she sighed sadly. Miroku soon returned with the firewood, Shippo carrying his own bundle of mushrooms and herbs that Kaede had taught him to pick. A hush fell over the house, almost as if they were paying their respects to the dead, though they all knew that their friends were alive, yet whether they were well or not was unknown to them. It had been almost two weeks since they had seen their friends.

"I have more wood, Lady Kaede..."the monk said solemnly after a moment of silence, setting it outside the hut, bringing in a few pieces to stoke the fire. Shippou brought his bundle to the priestess, setting it beside her and she thanked him with a light pat on the head.

After they had eaten, the four of them sat back quietly. Sango curled up against the larger form of Kirara, Miroku sitting nearby. They were together now, but felt bad for their happiness while their friends, InuYasha and Kagome, could not be happy as well.

Shippou curled up over by where the old priestess sat, hugging his bushy tail as the old woman next to him ground up more ingredients for the next morning's meal. His large green eyes closed as he thought of his former 'foster'-mother's comforting scent. How he missed her... He even missed hearing Kagome and InuYasha bickering. But now, both of those things were lacking in the village, and in the group. Tears welled up in his eyes and he fought them over, mentally repeating to himself that he had to be strong now. InuYasha had once told him that he needed to be tough so that he could defend the ones he loved.

But he found it all so hard now... InuYasha hadn't seemed strong at all, when he ran. So why did Shippou have to be strong now? Why? It wasn't fair. Not at all.

Maybe things would get better. Maybe.


End file.
